Process of waterproofing concrete.



M r s No Drawing.

a m fi 'zmu b mm; 1,} 54,0 To all whom it may concern Be it known thatI, ABRAHAM E. HORN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident ofNew York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements inProcesses of \Vaterproofing-Concrete, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to waterproofing concrete and similarcementitious material and relates in particular to improvements in jtheart of waterproofing concrete and the I like, containing large amountsof sand and i gravel or other filling material oinaggre- 'gatesinvolving the use of an air-unstable metatheticallyqeactingquasi-soap orlooselysaponified material of Water-soluble or water-extensible nature;preferably comprising ammoniumstearate: all as more fully hereinafterdescribed and as claimed.

My discovery, on which this invention is based or derived, has arisenfrom the following observation ;--in the proportions commonly advocatedfor the purpose, the various waterproofing soaps of a water-insolublenature, as stearate gf li ne and the like, and

the water-soluble soaps assgdium gr potassium oeat almitate stearateresmate and the like, wiil waterproof a lz 'c'emen't' and sand mixturevery satisfactorily. Some ofthese will waterproof a 1:3 mixture. A fewwill waterproof a 1 :4 mixture. Practically none of these willwaterproof a 1:5 mixture to the accepted extent required by the artisan,and in no case is a 1:6 mixture given satisfactory waterproofingqualities under these circumstances.

As the use of mixture 1 :5 or 1:6, as well as cement, sand and gravelmixtures of 1:2:8 or 1:3:5, etc., roportions is quite customary, it isen ent that waterproofing on such a basis with the common waterproofingagents of the market, is a failure under these conditions. On the otherhand increase in the proportion of the waterproofing compound to cementis undesirable because these compounds have, if anything, the tendencyto weaken cement by interfering more or less with the bonding action. Itis quite evident that in well extended mixtures such as 1: 3: 5 and thelike, the bonding action should be maintained at a maximum to secure theexpected strength of the resulting concrete. The quandary in which thishitherto unsolved problem has left the waterproofing engineer, has nowSpecification of Letters Patent.

s earates of limg magnesla alumina and .Wfi 11OI1 a e end lng gn he1131138 of tlie ceunrrnn a STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABRAHAM E. HORN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS OF WATERPROOFING CONCRETE.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

Application filed September 18, 1912. Serial No. 720,928.

been eliminated or solved by me in a very simple and cheap but totallyunexpected manner.

or water-yielding material so as to form 1n particular an air-unstablemetatheticallyreacting quasi-soap or loosely-saponified material of awater-soluble 'or water-extensible nature, I secure a remarkablereactive body of great potential waterproofing qualities; that is tosay, one which when brought in contact 5 with the cement in the presenceof moisture, reacts w'i'ffi ex t'r'eme vigor or avidity forming a highlydisseminated water-insoluble stearate or complex stearate andsilicostearate or alumino-stearate of tremendous watershecldingproperties while the alkali being liberated and being rendered therebyentirely volatile is removed sooner or later from the seat of thereaction so that its presence as a de-waterproofin a ent is notmanifested. I am not at this time able to ascribe with definitcness, allthe reasons for the peculiar and specific action of this remarkablewaterproofing reaction but believe that among other things the abilityto automatically free the concrete substantially from de-waterproofingalkali coupled with the reactivity of the stearate material existing inthe peculiar quasi-soap or loosely saponifiedquasi-colloidal bodyaccounts in part for this efficiency. My investigations and observationshowever lead me to the conviction that there is a further reaction whichtends also to au ent the ater r fipggctimon 5E agmatiiafi rmanm of o c px siearateemiligmm alamm a id W1:- j

The preparation 0 t e compound should by all means preferably be carriedout in the presence of a great excess of moisture, thus insuring theformation of water-soluble amid-free hydrated ammonium quasi-soap orair-unstable hydrated ammonium stearate and the like. Prefe abl anamountof ammonia should begged slightly underneutralizes he stear' 'd so as Fogive an acid' om ou lthough by hydrolysis the reaction is alkaline.Under some circumstances the composition may be rendered truly alkalineor basic by the addition of an aer con ions excess of ammonia. This secial composi- 1 tion is perhaps especially esirable in the presence ofhighly silicious aggregates or reactive acidic rock material.

5 A quantity of water sufficient to permit the composition to take aaste form of a variable degree of consistency, according tocircumstances, should be used. Or the water may be substituted in partat least by lco 10 an the 1 e,w11c1 en s to re uce fhe conslstency andto prevent the compos1- tion thickening and becoming diflicultly solubleor miscible in cold weather. It is important that the composition minglefreely with water, even though the latter be very cold, as it is mypurpose particularly, to mix the potential waterproofing compqmd with,water mgaging the coiffetematerlal, sdthat accordingtothetfmbunt of suchma- 0 terial the a in water and likewise the potential waterproofingcompound is increased or decreased in proportion substantially with thequantity of material used.

Various bodies capable of forming quasisoaps may be used such as thefatty acids of corn or Chinese wood oil. Tung oil fatty acids are asstated in U. S. Letters Patent for waterproofing compounds granted to A.C. Horn July 2, 1912, No. 1,031,003, capable of unitin with lime to formwaterproofing compounds resistant to hydrolytic action, and the ammoniasoap in proper colloidal or loosely saponifiab e form is a desirableingredient of the compositions discussed above.

The fattv acids of fish oil such as menha en an 0 or e quas1 soaps moreparticularly if bl] pr F0 forming the u s combination W1 1 1e ammoniabase. By b owlng ro mined which has the desired properties as an ammoniasoap material.

The re form soaps with ammonia but most 0 lese are unsuited for thepresent purpose on account of their lack of loose saponification as itwere, or to some property of a disadvantageous character not appearingin the stearates for example. Then -too, the ammonia resinates such astho f manila an rosin 0 no a co concrete adr inarv o eic aci in comirraticm .Wll'.1 impairin fair p otentialwaterproofing qiialitishnd alsoalmitia aad is fairly "serviceable; but do not give results of asatisfactory character under some conditions when using a 1:6 mixture orthereabouts. The ammonium stearate material of a quasi soapy naturecontaining air-unstable metathetically-reacting bodies represents thepre- 0 ferred form of the present invention.

In the foregoing I have mentioned illustratively several bodies in partof an equivalent character which may be used under the presentinvention, but it is to be noted that by such illustrative disclosure Ido not limit concrete and I do notwish to be understood myself to theexact formulas or combinations or procedures mentioned but may use othermaterials giving like results or functionally similar and hence mayinvoke the doctrine of equivalency in so far as same may be thusapplicable.

I am aware of the use of water soluble soa as such as those of thealkaline base, so mm, for the purpose of waterproofing as includingsoapy material functionmg n this manner. hen sodium oleate,for'e'xample, reacts with the lime o 1e cement, the oleate of lime isformed and the soda set free as the hydroxid or the carbonate,

. O in all probability. This fixed alkah remams .in the concrete, oftengiving rise to efilorescence and tends to exhibit a cle-waterproofingaction apparently in the course of time so that the calcium soap formedin situ or in the mass when mixed, is reconverted or oxidized orotherwise changed in the presence of this fixed alkali, so as to befairly vulnerable to the ingress of moisture after a time.

Ordinarily no strengthening or hardening material is required but in thecase of treatment of floors sometimes a hardened surface is called for,in order to eliminate dusting. In such cases apart from the use ofspecial hardening material such as indicated, it becomes desirable touse asa waterproofing material solely ammonium stearate properlyhydrated and existing in the quasi-soap form or in a peculiar colloidalair-unstable condition as set forth in the foregoing. Y

I believe myself to be the first to have satisfactorily waterproofedvery extended mixtures of concrete or cement by the use of a modicum ofa wate 'oofing agent and the lmi piases as a new article of manufactureor new product, a structural mass of concrete or similar materialcarrying within its mass a modicum of pre 11 cipitated lime or similarsoap more or less attached or chemically combined with some of theacedic or other basic elements of the cement to form a complex ofremarkable water shedding properties, said concrete be- 5 ingsubstantially or essentially free from fixed .alkali or volatile alkaliin order to preclude de-waterproofing or degenerative action of saidalkali on the in si'tu formed waterproofing agent.

I do not wish the foregoing to indicate any limitation as to theproportions ofcement and sand or other filling material which may beused in carrying out the present invention. While with a 1:5 or a 1:6mixture I am enabled to secure these unusual results, I may equally Welluse the more customary mixtures of 1:2; 1:3; or 1:4. The main reason whythe ordinary waterproofing materials on the marketare COATING ORPLASTIC.

successful in a 1:2 mix, is a question of the ratio of material tovoids. \Vith the average sands in general use, the voids amount to about33,-%. Therefore, in two 2) cubic feet of sand, of a cubic foot of voidfilling material would be required to fill the voids; whereas in factone cubic foot of cement is used, or an excess of e],- of a cubic foot.This proportion decreases as the cement is extended with sand;therefore, in a 1:4 mixture, 1?,- cubic feet of cement should he used tocompletely fill the voids. Since, however, the cement cannot of coursecompletely fill the voids, and as most of the waterproofing compoundsheretofore proposed are wanting in those water-repellent qualities whichwould entirely make up this deficiency, very unsatisfactory results aregenerally afforded in the endeavor to waterproof mixtures such as or i.Yet these latter mixtures, apart from the greater difliculty ofwater-proofing, are preferred, because they are less prone to show haircracks than the mixtures.

The present invention makes possible the economical waterproofing of anymixture ranging from 1:2, or 1:3, more or less, and up to 1:5, or 1:6,and thus supplies a great want in the cement waterproofing industry.

\Vhat I claim is 1. In the art of waterproofing concrete,

the step which consists in adding to a highly extended cement, arelatively small amount of a solution of ammonium stearate, wherebymolecular complexes are formed and ammonia liberated.

2. In the art of waterproofing concrete, the step which consists inadding to a highly extended cement, a relatively small amount ofammonium stearate incorporated with the gaging wafer; whereby molecularcomplexes are formed and ammonia liberated.

3. In the art of waterproofing concrete, the step which consists inadding to c011- crete a solution of air-unstable ammonium stearate.

4. In the art of waterproofing concrete, the step which comprises addingto concrete materials a solution of air-unstable ammonium stearate freefrom all other alkali.

5. In the art of waterproofing concrete, the step which comprises addingto concrete materials a solution of ammonia soap of an air-unstablecharacterand substantially free from other alkali.

Signed at Cleveland in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio this 9thday of September A. D. 1912.

- ABRAHAM E. HORN.

Witnesses:

E. A. GUINN, E. H. MoINTosH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington. D. C.

